Probe into Khalili’s tape may take a week

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Saturday said it would complete soon its probe into a tape recording accusing second Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili of electoral fraud.

However, the AGO expressed unawareness about a similar recording attributed to former Independent Election Commission (IEC) secretary Ziaul Haq Amarkhel. The IEC had previously said it had sent the audio tapes to the AGO for investigation.

Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign team had accused Khalili and Amarkhel of siding with rival candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the June runoff presidential election and played audio recordings as evidence regarding their involvement in the electoral fraud.

He said AG Mohammad Ishaq Aloko had appointed a delegation headed by his deputy Abdul Fatah Azizi to investigate the issue. The investigation is being conducted with technical support from relevant government organisations.

“In the technical area, we have asked detective police to identify the voice with the help of laboratory equipment they have,” Azizi said, adding Abdullah’s team had been asked to produce their documents before the AGO.

The AGO spokesman said their investigation could take another week to complete because it was taken forward in line with the law and without any discrimination.

“We do not differentiate between Ustad Khalili, Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Dr. Abdullah or others when it comes to law. This investigation will be completed soon and revealed to the masses,” the AGO spokesman said.

He said the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) had sent them a letter along with a CD (compact disc) and a legal action in this regard would be initiated once authenticity of the voice was confirmed.

Azizi said the AGO was currently questioning Khalili and members of the Reform and Unanimity team led by Abdullah regarding the tape.

He said it would become clear later that how Abdullah’s team obtained the audio and what resources had been used to record his voice and which government department had allowed the recording.

Abdullah’s team has been insisting that the tape is real but Karimi has called it a fake.

Abdullah’s team says the tape caught Khalili telling his supporters to work in favour of Ghani in every manner they could even against the election law.

Azizi said no complaint had been registered with them against Amarkhel, the former IEC secretary, who was accused of working in favour of Ghani by Abdullah’s team.

The IEC last month said it had urged the United Nations to help confirm if the voice recorded in the tape was that of Amarkhel but the UN refused to extend technical support.

IEC spokesman Nadir Mohseni had said the recording attributed to Amarkhel had been sent to security organs and the AGO but there had been no response as yet.

He said the IEC could not investigate the issue until the voice’s authenticity was confirmed.